Flawed Makeup of Grand Jury Voids Indictments

A Santa Barbara judge has thrown out the indictment of a murder suspect after ruling that the makeup of the Ventura County Grand Jury did not reflect the county’s population because it lacked representative numbers of women and Latinos.

The ruling by Superior Court Judge William L. Gordon set aside the indictment against skinhead murder defendant David Ziesmer, as well as drug charges against five other men in separate cases who challenged the composition of the grand jury.

New criminal complaints against those defendants were filed Thursday, and in most of the cases the charges remain the same.

“It in no way compromises our case,” said Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Bill Haney, who is prosecuting Ziesmer. “We absolutely intend to pursue him to the fullest extent of the law.”

Haney said prosecutors still intend to seek the death penalty for Ziesmer, 29, who is accused of fatally stabbing a 17-year-old girl in a motel bathroom in October 1998.

Ziesmer was again charged with murder, conspiracy, solicitation of murder, participation in a street gang and special allegations that he killed Nichole Hendrix during a robbery and kidnapping.

Ziesmer did not enter a plea during a court appearance Thursday and was ordered back to court Sept. 20. He remains jailed without bail and his case is expected to proceed to a preliminary hearing this fall.

While prosecutors filed identical charges against Ziesmer, they filed reduced charges against two Hells Angels members indicted last year as part of a massive drug-and-racketeering case.

William Wolf, 32, and Sabian Reynoso, 25, remain charged with drug possession and drug sales. But they no longer face conspiracy counts or gang allegations, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin Suh, who would not comment on the decision to file fewer charges.

Gordon’s ruling Wednesday follows two earlier court decisions that found flaws in Ventura County’s grand jury selection process.

In February, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Frank J. Ochoa set aside the indictment of Ventura murder suspect Michael Schultz after finding that the grand jury pool did not represent a fair cross section of the community as required by state and federal law.

Ochoa specifically found that while women constituted half of the county’s jury-eligible population, they represented little more than a quarter of the grand jury pool.

A month later, Ochoa dismissed a separate indictment against admitted rapist and murder defendant Vincent Sanchez of Simi Valley on the same grounds. Prosecutors have since filed new charges against both men.

The rulings have come from Santa Barbara judges because Ventura County’s judges chose the grand juries in question. The selection process has since been changed to ensure more diverse grand juries.

Defense lawyers hope the changes will result in fewer indictments by grand juries, whose proceedings are confidential, and more open preliminary hearings.